WORLD BRIEFING | EUROPE; Web Sites Attacked In Ex-Republics

By SARA RHODIN

Published: July 24, 2008

Government Web sites in two former Soviet republics, Lithuania and Georgia, came under cyber attacks over the weekend, according to Lithuanian officials and an Internet watchdog group. It was the second time in less than a month that Web sites in Lithuania had been targets. While the origins of the attacks were not known, both countries have had tense relations with Russia, and Russian hackers are believed to have been responsible for earlier, similar incidents. The Web site of the Lithuanian tax office was taken down after it was flooded with information requests, officials said. In Georgia, according to Shadowserver, an Internet watchdog group, hackers shut down the Web site of the president for more than 24 hours. The Georgian government would not confirm the cutoff.